And then real life happened.
Sick kid up at weird hours the past two nights, 4 nights in a row of school play, late bedtimes, helping as a parent volunteer with said school play, a sweet elderly neighbor passed away and today I am helping with a family luncheon after her funeral, intense week at work for my husband coinciding with the other craziness, etc., etc. You all know what it's like.
I usually try not to get into the nitty gritty of real life behind the blog because I know everyone has their own load of real life and I don't want to sound like a whiner. (Especially considering there are many people whose burdens and responsibilities are even weightier than mine.)
But at the last second I decided I would share, only because I don't want any one out there who stops by this blog to think life is always peachy and organized (hah!) and well put together. Blog life is pretty strategically edited.
Just like these photos. The first one makes life look clean and lovely. The second one shows the mess/reality that's been thrown to the side to give you the impression life is serene and then neatly cropped out of the version you see here most of the time.
So hopefully next week I'll be back with a nifty new tutorial or final pictures of this finished quilt and a pattern. But for today, I'm trying to roll with - and enjoy - real life.
Posts
Too true! Real life has been a big factor st our house lately, too....what can you do? Everything can't be perfect all the time. Even 10% of the time would be great, lol! Regardless, that quilt is STUNNING.....just beautiful, I would love to make one, it will make a great pattern! And your kids are too cute!
ReplyDeleteIt looks wonderful! I'm excited for the pattern too! I hope today goes alright for you, sounds like a very busy time! Well wishes for your little ones, hope you all get some rest this weekend!
ReplyDeleteOh Amy, I just love ya!!! Thanks for the reminder that its okay to push things aside (and literally, just push them to the side of the room) and go on with life :) I finally got to sew last night for the first time in a week and a half. I was having some major withdraws :) Your kids look adorable!!!! My oldest son had the school play the last 2 nights as well. He was finally old enough to be in it and I think it will be an annual thing. He loved it!!! (and he is quite the showman) Hope life slows down a little bit for you :) Don't forget to sleep in there every once and a while :)
ReplyDeleteVery pretty Amy! Yes, real life comes first!
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, this post touched me. I SO know how you feel. I have been trying to get a couple big projects done over the past couple years and life keeps getting in the way. I am plugging away, little by little, and making progress. I guess the finish line is even in sight on one of the bigger ones, but boy oh boy. I had just told myself to try to relax and not agonize over being behind my self-imposed deadlines for these kinds of things. Then I read your post. I feel better now. Thank you! Love the quilt and love the picture of the kids. Very sweet!
Julie
Very pretty quilt. Love the pastels. I can't adequately express how much I liked this quilt! Toni
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to seeing the tutorial for your beautiful quilt! You did good!!!
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ReplyDeleteDon't you love how everything decides to happen all at once? Thanks for the "real" pictures, they make me feel much better about my crazy world!
ReplyDeleteliking what i see. & happy to wait for your tutorial.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how much I appreciate this post today ~ just not feeling quite right and a bit down today. It's good to know that what looks like perfection is just life happening. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteBwhahahaa! Those crazy kids!:) I just made the girl's bed this morning....she went back to OX mid January!;)
ReplyDeleteCute quilt and the picture of the kids was hilarious! :) Thanks for sharing that moment with us.
ReplyDeleteAPPRECIATE THIS POST!
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS QUILT! LOVE THOSE COLORS! WOULD YOU SHARE WHAT FABRIC LINE YOU USED?
THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHARING!
msstitcher1214@yahoo.com
Wonderful! Ha ha ha! Especially as I lately have spent lots of time thinking about this on scene and back stage thing... I mean we are like performers here in blog land. Putting on our best costumes, showing the glamour in teh bright spotlight but behind the scenes another reality appears... So re-freshening to see as just like you said, first picture is like taken form an interior magazine feature... but the below one shows what it is in reality. I love this. And those squirrels of yours... Ahhh how cute! BTW that quilt is really REALLY nice. Looking forward to see the pattern. For the first time ever since I started my quilting journey I think I am ready to actually follow a pattern, yours that would be. The other day I took the big leap into paper piecing hexagons and I am LOVING it. It will be in my next post. :D See you areound. :D Annette
ReplyDeleteLove this quilt!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, Don't beat yourself too much. Sometimes life gets in the way of things you want to be doing and you feel like you are letting the people who love and care for you down. In reality, it's just you being too hard on yourself. I'm actually I'm in awe of all the wonderful, creative things that all of you and all my favorite quilty/crafty mom bloggers accomplish. And I try not to beat myself up because I'm turning out beautiful quilts as fast as you all manage. So know that you are deeply cared for by all your online friends and we (I'm including myself) understand and want to you to know how much we "get" it. Now on a lighter note, I love the new quilt. The colors and pattern are beautiful. I'm jealous of how skilled you and my favorite quilters are able to coordinate fabrics so well. I'm with Linda. Please share what what fabrics you used. They look like Terrain by Kate Spain. I'm sending you a big hug and hope the sunshine and green spring days brighten your life.
ReplyDelete:) Love the little brother tackle. Fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the quilt.
ReplyDelete(and a little fist bump to my fellow UC wife for surviving this past week)
I love "real life" posts. We all experience real life. Our blog lives too often look abnormally perfect. Good luck in your "real life". The quilt is beautiful, by the way. Hope things calm down a bit.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt, even my husband loved it! Can't wait for the tutorial/pattern to come out. I don't think it's whiney to share what's really going on behind the scenes, often that's what people like the most. It's good to know we're not the only ones living "real life" :)
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, most of the time we don't want all the nitty gritty in our quilting posts. But occasionally.... it feels good to know that your life is about as picture perfect as the rest of ours!.:) Love the quilt, it's beautiful and no doubt made you smile the last little bit.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of thoughts similar to yours but I won't bore you. My kids don't play with cute vintage toys or wear homemade clothing I designed. We are rocking Le Target and there are plastic legos everywhere. While I might like the fairy tale, my kids would be miserable. They are more important than the fairy tale. When I have a blog break it is not a super secret project that will make me famous or rich...just mopping and vacuuming :) hahaha
ReplyDeleteI love the quilt - but I also love the way you are honest enough to share the nitty gritty of life too....You're still an inspiration to so many of us! :)
ReplyDeleteThat quilt is adorable Amy -- I can't wait to see the whole thing. Love that last photo too -- the costume turned out great!
ReplyDeleteI love it, the quilt and your REAL life :)
ReplyDeleteThe fairy dress turned out nice!
ReplyDeleteReal life is messy. And really, 5 years from now, what difference will it make if we get the tutorial this week or next? We look forward to it, sure, but we realize that life happens .... and bloggy obligations really have to play second fiddle to real life obligations.
ReplyDeletehahaha, don't you just love real life? when we hit the bumps, i call them adventures. and we have plenty of adventures around here!!! may you always be able to handle the adventures!
ReplyDeleteLorene
Beautiful quilt. Beautiful kids. Life is a juggling act -- and sometimes a ball drops. You picked the right ball to drop this week. We can wait for the pattern. Really.
ReplyDeleteAww bless you, I remember it well, being pulled here there and everywhere all at once and wearing the many different hats of motherhood. It was extremely hectic at times but I loved it, I'm pleased to say mine are all grown up, married and have children of their own mostly teenagers and at the older end of their teens. Thank goodness I'm now the Nannan and not the Mum so I get to give them back after visits :o).
ReplyDeleteThe quilt is absolutely gorgeous and I look forward to seeing the tutorial and the pattern. Your photo of the children made me smile, typical bother antics lol.
Remember to breathe is all that rush and hurry and I think you deserve a little time for you.
Peg x
Love the quilt, and as for the second picture, well, it looks like my house!
ReplyDeleteOMG, Amy, I adore this quilt! It looks like it might not be too complicated?! I have to tell you - I love, love, love the quilting! Is that just random free-motion? Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteAnd that "mess" is nothing compared to the clutter in my house! I would be more than happy to let people think that my house is 'perfect' in edited blog land!
Hope that this week is less eventful!
Love the quilt and can wait on the pattern and tutorial. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and enjoy real life. The picture of brotherly love makes me smile as much as the picture of the quilt. Hope you have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteVery cute quilt. Like you said, we all know how life gets. It's ok to be human and not have it all together. Give yourself some slack. :)
ReplyDeleteCreative People Have Messy Houses!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the quilt is lovely too. :)
I love 'keeping it real' posts! It humanizes you and makes me feel more connected to you as a real person with 'normal' everyday stuff. I posted on this very thing just two weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteThe quilt is fabulous! As all of your quilts are! Beautiful colors!
Until life gets back to 'normal' for you, I will look forward to the pattern and tutorial. Thanks for sharing.
I love your blog. This quilt is wonderful. I hope the center is square and I don't need special ruler because I would buy the pattern when you have time. I sure understand life. I have a wonderful retired husband who keeps my house clean and our kids are grown. I'd rather have small kids and a messy house. I miss those years.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really like what I can see of your new quilt. And, golly, gee, you have "real life"? How can that be? I, too, pretty much only show the fun and creative side of my life but once in a while there is a need to show the messy side, just to keep it real. Good going.
ReplyDeleteAs always absolutely beautiful. I have never quilted before and because of you and your beautiful quilts I am giving it a try and so far so good. Thank you for giving me the incentive to try something that reminds me of the beauty of a quilt and the love that goes into each and every one. Made by hand is made byt he heart I always say.
ReplyDeleteOh Amy dearest, boy do I ever know how that feels. There's a good reason why most of us bloggers have a blurred background! ;) I'm excited for that pattern, I'm going to have to buy it. xoxo April
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this quilt. Life is precious and wonderful and crazy. Thanks for being "real". If only I could buy a kit for this one - I really, really like it.
ReplyDeleteYour real life sounds like my real life. Sick kid here too... for days and days. Beautiful quilt though, and that last pic is awesome!
ReplyDeleteYou kept your priorities in the right order and we all respect you even more. I love it...seeing real life happens to every one all the time. What is it Randy Jackson on American Idol is always saying??...just keepin' it real!
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Gmama jane
Beautiful quilt! So excited to see more :)
ReplyDeleteLife happens and you just have to roll with it. We all go through the same thing. You'll get to your pattern and post at some point. And we'll all be here to ooh and aah over it when you do.
ReplyDeleteLife does have a way of "having its own way", but when you're old and gray, one thing you will never say is "I wish I had spent more time blogging and less time with the people in my life". :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post. And I love your quilt too. It's nice to know you are not the only one for whom life sometimes goes a little haywire!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy life--and quilt when you can. I love that you keep it real and have your priorities in order! I also love your sense of humor--that last photo just cracks me up! :) Beautiful quilt, btw.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I can really appreciate your post. :o)
ReplyDeleteLooking so forward to sewing for the bee!!
hugs, Trish
Amy- I appreciated your post so much today! I find myself longing to be the perfect stay at home mom/quilter/blogger extraordinare... Good to know it's not always 'perfect.' But you can always find a way to be perfectly happy in your busy life!
ReplyDeleteLove the quilt and I so "get" you. You know I do. Take care. I really don't know why life is so hard. But it is. The easy times are fleeting. It is great that we have blogs to keep in touch and understand each others reality.
ReplyDeleteoh, that quilt is a dream. can't wait for the pattern! great work.
ReplyDeleteWell hey, life happens! And apparently, if you're Tinkerbell, you should always expect the unexpected ;o)
ReplyDeleteAmy, love the quilt, love the post, and your great sense of humor... cheers! xo amy
ReplyDeleteI love real life shots, zoomed out and everything! So I think this is the type of quilt i want to make for my month of the bee. I already have a ton of strips cut for a project I abandoned...
ReplyDelete